On the comparison of decoding strategies for a memetic algorithm for the multi layer hierarchical ring network design problem

Abstract

We address the Multi Layer Hierarchical Ring Network Design Problem, which arises in the design of large telecommunication backbone networks. To ensure reliability for the network the nodes are assigned to different layers and connected using a hierarchy of rings of bounded length. Previously we presented a memetic algorithm that clusters the nodes of each layer into disjoint subsets and then uses a decoding procedure to determine rings connecting all nodes of each cluster. In this paper we compare several decoding procedures based on construction heuristics for the Traveling Salesman Problem and an integer linear programming approach. We observe that a nearest neighbor procedure outperforms the other constructive methods, while the exact approach proves to be to slow for practical use.